Biography

Barbara Siesel; flutist, performance artist and producer, performs both in traditional venues and in experimental new media projects. Siesel has appeared as soloist in principal halls of China, Korea, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the United States. She has made extended tours of the Far East, Spain and China including three weeks of workshops, master classes and recitals at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and appearances in Japan and Taiwan sponsored by the Altus Flute Co., Ltd.

In 1995, representing women in the arts, she appeared in solo concert at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. Ms. Siesel served as soloist at Jornados de Musica del Siglo XX in Segovia, Spain, California’s Redwood Festival, the Adirondack Festival of American Music, the Derriere Guard Festival in New York City, and the Festival of the Performing Arts at Florida International University.

Continuing her long-standing interest in interdisciplinary work and multimedia, Siesel was asked to create and direct an experimental interdisciplinary/ multimedia program at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. She has also been on the faculty of Colby College in Waterville Maine. Siesel received her BM and MM from the Juilliard School. She was a student of the late Samuel Baron.

In addition, Barbara Siesel has been involved in education, new media and producing for over 23 years. In the 1980’s she founded the Andiamo Chamber Ensemble a contemporary music ensemble in residence at The New School for Social Research.She pioneered the now popular concept of thematic programming, first with concerts devoted to the Second Viennese School of composers and later exploring American music through recreating programs conceived and produced at the New School in the ‘30s by Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland. Later she created a series designed to lead into the new millennium, which, for a decade, aimed to perform music based on the great issues of the 20th century. She was also active commissioning and premiering new music by such noted composers as Pulitzer Prize winner (1998)AaronKernis, Chen Yi, Zhou Long (Pulitzer prize 2011), Tan Dun, Michael Torke, Alan Jay Yim, and many more.

She was active for many years performing in the New York metro area with orchestras including Orchestra of St Luke’s, Opera Orchestra of NY, Albany Symphony, Greenwich (CT) Symphony, NE Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Queens Symphony, and on Broadway with Into the Woods (and national tour), Miss Saigon, and more!!

In 1994 she co-founded Art Culture &Technology (ACT) an organization whose mission was to help produce new media and live performance works often in public spaces. She co-produced productions at the 1995 Conference on Women in Beijing China, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Snug Harbor, American Music Theater Festival (Philadelphia), and many more.

In 1999 incollaboration with ACT, Barbara Siesel founded the Storm King Music Festival, a festival devoted to the exploration of classical acoustic performance and new media. The festival presented over 50 concerts and some 50 premieres of new music. As well as exploring new uses for video, computer music and interdisciplinary performance. The festival was famous for its round-table discussions which included such musical notable’s as Chen Yi, Tania Leon, Kyle Gann, Carman Moore, Ronald Caltabiano, Sidney Corbett, Bruce Lazarus, StefaniaDeKenessey, Rand Steiger, Chris Theofanides, Zhou Long and many others, over 60 composers in five years. Concurrently, MsSiesel was a professor of Flute at the New World School of the Arts, (Miami Florida), Colby College (2002-3)(Waterville Maine), and SUNY New Paltz (NY). She was also asked to develop the interdisciplinary program at New World School of the Arts in 1996. At Colby she conducted the contemporary music ensemble.

She was a panelist for New York State Council on the Arts composer commissioning awards for several years and a speaker on new media at the Chamber Music America in conference 1998. She will be a panelist on musical entrepreneurship at both the 2014 Chamber Music America Conference and the 2014 National Flute Association Convention.

Upcoming interdisciplinary projects include an interactive, ground breaking, hologram flute concert with colleague Andrea Fisher (aka Fluter Scooter) and The Flute View Trio with Fluter and Viviana Guzman which will debut this summer at the National Flute convention in Chicago IL. 2013 also saw the launch of The Flute View, which she co-founded with Fluter and Guzman. The online magazine and interviews are about everything flute in the 21st century — a way for flutists to create community in our changing musical landscape.

In 2004 Barbara Siesel co- founded the award winning Green Golly Project with singer, songwriter, writer and actor Keith Torgan. Ms Siesel feels strongly that it is important to strengthen music education nationally through new media and live performances in schools, libraries, museums, theaters and concert halls.

This past season alone the project has been featured artists at University of Indiana/South Bend flute festival, Flutes by the Sea with Carol Wincenc and Viviana Guzman, International Flute Symposium at West Virginia University, Imani Winds- Wind Symposium Day at Mannes College of Music and the National Flute Association Convention in New Orleans.

In 2013 Green Golly Project released their new book Green Golly and HerGolden Flute published by Eifrig Publishing and The Green Golly Collection, a collection of sheet music based on the music included in the story Green Golly and Her Golden Flute, published by the Theodore Presser Company. Additionally they launched Green Golly by Di Zhao flutes, excellent beginner flutes designed by Siesel and her flute partners.

Siesel’s current goal and mission is to get kids excited about music and keep them excited, through lessons, master classes/clinics, residencies and CDs, sheet music, flutes, books, games and (in development)an animated series. Since 2004 she has performed over 200 programs a year throughout the US at such noted venues as, Ravinia Festival (IL), Adrienne Arscht Center(Miami, FL) and SXSW (Austin, TX ).

1. Ruehr, Of Water and Clouds

\"1. Ruehr, Of Water and Clouds\".

2. Fabregas Sonata for Flute and Piano, Allegro con Spirito

\"2. Fabregas Sonata for Flute and Piano, Allegro con Spirito\".

3. Fabregas Sonata, Largo

\"3. Fabregas Sonata, Largo\".

4. Fabregas Sonata, Scherzo

\"4. Fabregas Sonata, Scherzo\".

5. Fabregas Sonata, Allegro Molto Con Brio

\"5. Fabregas Sonata, Allegro Molto Con Brio\".

6. DeKenessey Sonata in D Major, Andante

\"6. DeKenessey Sonata in D Major, Andante\".

7. DeKenessey Sonata, Allegro Grazioso

\"7. DeKenessey Sonata, Allegro Grazioso\".

8. DeKenessey Sonata, Allegro Vivace

\"8. DeKenessey Sonata, Allegro Vivace\".

9. Liebermann Sonata for Flute and Piano, Opus 23, Lento

\"9. Liebermann Sonata for Flute and Piano, Opus 23, Lento\".

10. Liebermann Sonata, Presto

\"10. Liebermann Sonata, Presto\".

Music from the CD “of Water and Clouds”

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of Water and Clouds

by Barbara Siesel & Elisenda Fabregas
Beautiful, melodic late 20th century pieces for Flute and Piano by some of the pioneers of the new tonal, accessible style in American music. Performed by flutist Barbara Siesel and Elisenda Fabregas.

Reviews

“ … 57 minutes of awesome.”
– The Opinionated Parent.Com

“Siesel’s musical talent with the flute is amazing! If you buy the CD only to listen to her play Flight of the Bumblebee (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) it would be well worth the money. I never knew the flute could be played so beautifully. “
– Solution Sleuth.Com